Talking In Your Sleep
by Moonsway
Summary: I guess I just can't leave these two alone. In this story, Beth has a sexy dream.
1. Chapter 1

Talking In Your Sleep

Daryl heard Beth moan and froze in the process of getting a clean change of clothes out of his cell. He had been out hunting for two days, and he was now going to take a shower. Everybody else was outside cooking the meat he had brought back. Hershel had told him to be careful not to wake Beth, because they were letting her sleep in late this morning. She had been on her first supply run yesterday with Rick and Michone. It was successful, but Rick had a close call at the end, barely making it to the car in time. Beth had actually been the one to shoot three walkers, because Rick's gun was out of bullets and Michone was busy fighting off her own walkers. Ironically, they had found a house with a large stash of weapons, and more importantly ammo. They had loaded the car and made one last trip into the house, but they had come out to find a sizable group of walkers between them and the car.

Everything had seemed fine, and the guys had teased Rick about being rescued by a little girl. They had welcomed Beth back as a hero. Later that night, though, she had a nightmare that her gun wouldn't fire while Rick was bitten by the walkers. She had been afraid to go back to sleep until nearly dawn.

Well, Daryl thought, sounds like she found someone to comfort her. He knew it was none of his business, but he was curious to know who was making the girl moan like that. He crept slowly toward her cell and peeked in to see that she was alone and still asleep. She was obviously having some kind of sex dream, and he needed to leave before she woke up and found him there. He moved back out of sight, but he continued to listen to her as he felt himself getting aroused. Now he was acting like a perverted old man, but he couldn't seem to force himself to leave her in private. He had compromised by not looking at her, but listening to her was the hottest thing he had experienced since before the world fell apart.

It wasn't like he hadn't fantasized about some of the women in the group. He was still a man after all, but he had no idea how to approach a woman without offering to buy her a drink. Needless to say, he hadn't heard a woman moan in pleasure like this in a long time. The funny thing was, Beth hadn't even been on his radar as a woman, because she was so young and sweet. Definitely not his type, but now he was growing harder by the second as he listened to her. He knew that he was going to be fantasizing about her as he took his shower and relieved the pressure that was building in his pants.

"Oh, Daryl."

As he heard her call out his name, it was all he could do not to finish himself off right there. He walked stiffly away and picked up the clean change of clothes he had left in his cell. The damn shower had never seemed so far away as it did that day.


	2. Awake

Awake

After all her fantasizing, sex had turned out to be a disappointment for Beth. The first time had hurt much more than she had expected it would. Jimmy had assured her that it would get better. The next three times they did it had been okay, but nothing like she had been led to believe. She certainly hadn't experienced the intense pleasure that he seemed to be enjoying. Her favorite parts were the kissing and when he had fondled her breasts, but that didn't last very long before he was pulling down her panties.

She had done it only four times in her life, and then had come her terrible depression. Poor Jimmy never made it off the farm when they had to escape. Since then, sex hadn't been on her mind at all.

That was why her erotic dream about Daryl had taken her by surprise. She had no idea where that had come from. Sure she admired his contributions to the group. He and Merle pretty much kept them all fed. And yeah, she had noticed the muscles in his arms from carrying that heavy crossbow all the time. Still, he was much older than she was and not someone who would be likely to star in her sexy dreams. Sexy dream, she corrected herself. She had never had a dream like that before.

It made her blush just to think about it. She had been in the shower, and he had walked in fully dressed. His eyes had raked over her body in a hungry way, just like she had seen one time in a movie. Then he had stepped forward and kissed her, not caring if he got all wet under the shower. This went on for some time, and then he had gotten down on his knees and started to suck on her nipple. Jimmy had only done this to her the first time, but she remembered the delicious feel of his tongue and mouth. In her dream, though, Daryl had taken lots of time and alternated between both breasts as water cascaded down her body.

She had woken up in a fevered state that had left her wanting—something. So vivid was the dream, that it had driven all thoughts of her nightmare out of her mind. When her father mentioned it later, it took her a minute to remember what he was talking about. Rick thanked her again for saving his life, but she humbly reminded him that he had been the one to teach her to shoot in the first place.

Oddly, her trauma yesterday had now been overshadowed by her embarrassment every time she was in Daryl's presence, even though he couldn't possibly know about her dream. She had become extremely aware of him, and it seemed to her that his eyes now lingered on her more than they ever had before. Of course, that was just her imagination due to the fact that she couldn't get the details of the dream out of her mind. In a day or two it would begin to fade, and then she would be back to normal.

"Hey, Beth, you did great out there yesterday." He actually smiled at her.

"Thanks." Her heart was beating fast standing this close to him. She could barely look at him before her gaze shifted nervously to the ground.

"Heard you had trouble sleeping," Daryl said.

She could feel the heat rise in her cheeks even though she knew he was talking about her nightmare. Someone must have told him about it. "Yeah, I had a nightmare," she mumbled for lack of anything else to say.

"That so?"

She glanced up, and he held her gaze. There was some kind of weird vibe between them that she didn't understand, but it brought back the feverish feeling she'd had when he had looked at her in her dream. "I, uh, have to help Carol with dinner."

As she quickly walked away from him, she was sure that she could feel his intense stare. It was only later that she realized that this was the first time he had used her name when speaking to her instead of calling her kid.


	3. Desire

Desire

His release in the shower had only taken the edge off his lust. He was hot for her, and it wasn't going away. Knowing that he was the one she had been responding to in her dream was putting all kinds of thoughts in his head. He wanted to know what he had done to her in her dream and give her that pleasure for real. He wanted to hear her call out his name the way she had during her dream.

Daryl went to congratulate her on her bravery, and he noticed how nervous she was around him now. Was she thinking about her dream? He couldn't ask her directly about it, so he brought up her trouble sleeping. Beth immediately blushed, and he knew for sure that she was remembering her sex dream about him. He caught her gaze and saw her response to the lust in his eyes.

He wanted her, and she wanted him. It should have been easy, but she was skittish. He was going to have to take it slow with her, because he didn't want to screw this up. Whatever it took, he was going to seduce her. Right or wrong, he was on fire living in such close proximity to her. He would have no peace until he had Beth.

It had been a few days, and his desire for her was only getting stronger. Daryl had already tried to go back to fantasizing about the other women, but his thoughts kept returning to Beth. With her he had an actual memory instead of just his imagination. If only she had called out somebody else's name, it might have doused his desire for her. He shouldn't have been spying on her in the first place, but it was too late to go back now.

This world was all about survival. There hadn't really been anything that he wanted until now. They said that good things were worth waiting for, and Beth was definitely a good thing.


	4. Closer

Closer

Beth smiled as she watched Judy stand while holding onto her cot. The little girl was adorable, and they all loved her dearly.

"Da, da, da," Judy said. Then she turned slightly and took three steps toward Beth.

"Oh," Beth cried in delight. She spun around, eager to share this joy with someone, and bumped into Daryl.

His arms came up around her in a hug. She was startled speechless. Beth had never seen him hug anyone. It was bad enough that she had butterflies in her stomach every time she was around him lately. Being pressed up against him closer than she had ever been, she was sure that he could feel how fast her heart was beating. Her arms awkwardly hugged him back, as she was unsure of herself in this unexpected situation.

He let go of her but didn't step back. For a moment, he just stood gazing into her eyes in silence. She began to feel positively dizzy from his nearness.

"You take good care of her," he said, speaking quietly and intimately to Beth.

Judy made a sound and distracted him. They both turned toward her as she took another step and plopped down on her butt.

Daryl laughed and scooped her up. "You gonna be ready to kick some ass soon, won't ya?" He smiled at Beth. "C'mon, let's go show Rick what she can do."

Beth followed him as he carried Judy outside. Her mind was reeling, trying to sort out what had just happened between her and Daryl. Every night she had a new routine of tallying all of her interactions with him over the course of the day. Every look he gave her, every word he spoke to her, it was all replayed in her mind before she fell asleep. She had thought that it was all in her imagination that he seemed to be paying more attention to her, but now he had hugged her.

What did it all mean? Did he maybe like her? Even as she told herself not to be silly, she couldn't quell the excitement she felt at this remote possibility.


	5. Just One Kiss

Just One Kiss

He had been trying to figure out a way to touch her, and it had confounded him. It was driving him crazy, because he had made good progress with her otherwise. She was less skittish around him due to how often he found a reason to talk to her. He even noticed how much she watched him now, although she always looked away shyly when he caught her looking. In his fantasies, he just walked up to her and kissed her. Well, a lot of things happened in his fantasies that he couldn't do right now, even though he wanted to very much.

Daryl had been watching Beth and saw that she was alone with Judy. He had decided that he had to make a move sometime, and now was as good of a time as any. He was going to do it. He was just going to kiss her and deal with the consequences later.

As he approached her, he saw Judy take her first unaided steps. Beth turned around with a look of happiness on her face that made him alter his plans. He hugged her instead and instantly knew that it was the right move. Feeling her body against his made him want to do more, but he reminded himself that he had to go slow. One step at a time.

He forced himself to let her go but stayed close to her. Oh, the thoughts in his head as he looked into her eyes. Luckily, Judy's presence prevented him from acting on them.

It was only a hug, but it took down some kind of barrier between them. Somehow, it seemed to free Beth to touch him, too. In the next few days, she touched his arm several times while she was talking to him. He was teaching Carl and the other kids to hunt, and she thought that was a great idea.

"It's so important, because it's not like they can just go to the grocery store anymore."

He liked her. She had a sweet, sunny personality. It didn't stop him from thinking about her physical attributes, though. He looked forward to the day when he could see her naked. Daryl wanted to touch her without her clothes on. One step at a time, he reminded himself. He still had to get that first kiss.

Daryl found her in her cell preparing to go take a shower. For obvious reasons, everybody was kept informed of it when one of them took a shower. It wasn't like you could lock the door behind you and be ensured privacy. Beth looked up at him as he walked into her cell, but he didn't stop to greet her. He couldn't slow his momentum or he would lose his nerve.

The kiss was meant to be gentle and brief, but he got carried away and had to force himself to stop. He stood looking into her blue eyes as she caught her breath.

"Enjoy your shower," he said and walked out of her cell.


	6. A Good Thing

A Good Thing

Daryl had kissed her! And it wasn't a dream this time. Beth's heart started racing every time she thought about it. The kiss had been the most wildly passionate one she had ever experienced. She had needed the shower to cool down, but then she had started thinking about how it would be to have Daryl there with her and gotten even more worked up. She could barely look at him during dinner.

"Ain't you hungry?" he drawled.

Something about the way he said that last word made her feel hot all over. Maggie gave him an odd look, and Daryl shoved a big bite of food into his mouth. After that, he stopped watching Beth and pretty much kept to himself the rest of the evening. Beth now knew that he was just biding his time until he could be alone with her again. Jimmy had laid low like this too when her dad had gotten on his case.

Daryl was going to kiss her again and more if she let him. Beth wondered if she should go no further than kissing this time. That was her favorite part anyway, and Daryl's kiss was—oh, so much hotter than sex had ever been for her. Why ruin a good thing?

Of course, he would eventually get tired of just kissing, but she would enjoy it while it lasted. With her mind made up, she waited in excited anticipation for Daryl to make his next move. She could hardly wait to kiss him again.

Notes:

I apologize for these short chapters, but that's the way the story is coming to me with going back and forth between Beth and Daryl's point of view. I guess I'll just have a lot more chapters.

Thank you to everyone for all your encouragement, and to all the guests who reviewed too.


	7. Holding Back

Holding Back

She was so different from the guarded, jaded women he had picked up in bars. Beth was sensitive and responsive to everything he did, everything he said, and it made him wild for her. Even a small thing like his inflection on the word hungry got a reaction out of her.

Now that he had gotten a taste of her, he wanted more. It had been a struggle not to follow her to the shower. How much longer did he have to wait? It had never taken this long to have sex with a woman before. He either picked women up or they picked him up. He had lost his virginity as a teen to his thirty-five year old neighbor. She had asked him to help her with something in her house and then quickly seduced him. She had kept him coming back for more and taught him a lot about sex and how to please a woman.

It was the first time in his life that somebody told him that he was good at something. He liked the praise and strived to earn it. He prided himself on never leaving a woman unsatisfied. It went a long way to making them, and him, ignore the scars on his back. Besides, he liked sex too much to let that stop him. He was confident that Beth would soon succumb to his skill in bed.

He could read her face when she said goodnight to him. Daryl waited for her outside until she snuck out to meet him. He led her to one of the cars and got in the back seat with her. She kissed him back with the same passion she had shown earlier in the day. Everything went according to his plan until he touched her breast. Beth pushed his hand away every time he tried to touch her again.

"Look, Daryl. I like kissing you, but that's as far as it goes."

"You're a virgin, huh?" This threw a wrench into things, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

"No, I'm not a virgin. I just don't like sex."

Well, that was a new one. "You just ain't been doing it right. How many guys you been with?"

He was expecting her to tell him it was none of his business, but she answered him. "One."

"Well, there's your problem. He didn't know what he was doing. Bet he was some young guy always in a hurry." The look on her face confirmed Daryl's suspicions. "It ain't gonna be like that with me."

"No," Beth said. "Just kissing. Take it or leave it."

He remembered how this had all started with him hearing her moaning during her sex dream. Whatever he had been doing to her in her dream, she sure hadn't called out his name that way from mere kissing. "I'll take it."

This was going to take longer than he thought, but he wasn't one to give up without a fight. He was just going to have to make her realize how much she wanted him.


	8. Curiosity

Curiosity

During the two weeks since they began kissing, Daryl had followed her rules—mostly. Within a couple days, he was kissing her neck.

"Daryl," she protested breathily.

"What? It's kissing, and I ain't going below the neck." She felt his warm breath in her ear before he gently nibbled at her earlobe.

Beth knew what he was doing, and she struggled to stick to her plan as he slowly gained ground. As the days went by, he managed to work his way under her shirt with his kisses.

"Oh," she moaned. "What are you doing?"

"It's just your back. Not like I can't touch your back."

The problem was that he was touching it with his tongue. Beth couldn't hold back her moans as he worked his way up and down with kisses and licks.

"Woman's got a right to change her mind," he whispered in her ear before he kissed her neck again. She was leaning back against him, and his arm was wrapped around her waist.

"I haven't," she said between shallow breaths.

Oh, he was sneaky in so many ways. One time they were in the middle of passionate kissing when she realized that her hand was under his shirt. She tried to pull it back, but he held it there.

"It's okay. You can touch me anywhere you want. I won't break the rules and touch you back."

She got a little thrill when she heard how uneven his breathing became as her hand moved under his shirt in exploration. The scars on his back made her wince. "Do they hurt?"

"No. It feels so good when you touch me." He kissed her again, his tongue darting into her mouth and making her feel so good, too.

It was her curiosity about his scars, she told herself. That was the only reason she had decided to go take a peek at him while he was in the shower, just to see what his scars looked like. It was easy to sneak into the room without being heard, because the sound of the water covered any noise she might have made. Luck was with her, because he had his back turned to her and didn't see her. Beth saw the scars, but her attention was quickly diverted to what he was doing to himself.

Of course, she knew about masturbation. Her friend, Jessica, had told her all about it. She said that all boys did it, and so did a lot of girls. Jessica said that all you had to do was rub yourself down there, and it made you feel real good—better than you've ever felt before. Beth had tried it in bed one night, and nothing had happened. She was too embarrassed to admit this to Jessica, so she had lied and agreed that it was the best thing ever. Jessica had also said that the same thing happened during sex, and that it was called an orgasm. That, too, had failed to happen for Beth.

In fact, listening to Daryl masturbate was more exciting than when she had tried it herself. His grunts and moans were giving her a funny feeling in her stomach. Then he moaned her name, and she gasped in surprise.

He somehow heard her and turned around with his hand still holding his erection. Instead of being embarrassed, he watched her as he resumed stroking himself. She burned with more than shame. More than seeing him naked, it was the look in his eyes that did it. The intensity of his stare wouldn't let her look away. She felt suffused with a languid heat that made it impossible to move her legs. All she could do was stand there and watch him finish what he was doing beneath the spray of water. He never looked away from her the entire time.

Then he regarded her with a heavy-lidded gaze. "I wanna see you come, too."

She took a step back. "I, uh…"

"Relax. Not gonna do nothing but watch. Show me how you touch yourself."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have come in here." Her legs finally carried her away from him. She wasn't worried about him following her in his naked state, but she was wrong.

Daryl caught up to her in the hallway. "Couldn't let you leave without a kiss." He pressed his wet body against her as he pulled her into a hot, demanding kiss.

"Sweet dreams, Beth," he whispered into her ear before he left her standing there in breathless desire.


	9. Dream Come True

Dream Come True

"What happened to my rubbers?" Merle demanded.

Daryl shrugged and looked away.

"Don't play stupid. I know you took 'em. You're the only one been riding my bike when I was gone." He smirked. "Found yourself some tail, eh?"

"No," Daryl said. "I found myself a woman."

"Little girl's grown up, has she?"

Daryl looked at him in surprise.

Merle snorted. "Ain't a secret, little brother. Seen the way she looks at you. Figure her daddy's getting ready to shoot you."

"He ain't shot Glenn yet," Daryl said.

"Oh ho! Gonna marry her, are you?" Merle clapped him on the back.

"Quit talking shit. I'll give you back half your rubbers, and I don't wanna hear no more about it."

"Won't put out for you, huh? Yep, wedding bells are gonna chime."

Daryl didn't really care about Merle's ribbing, because Beth was wavering about having sex with him. He was sure of it, and might have even had his way with her in the shower if he had tried to after he kissed her. She had been on fire for him as much as he was for her. What had stopped him was that he now wanted it to be her decision. He wanted to know that she wanted him that much.

Something Merle had said did give him pause, though. What would happen after he had sex with her? This situation they were in meant that they lived together. Daryl had never had to deal with something like that before and didn't know where it would lead. Such a thing would have scared him away from her in his old life, but he now wanted Beth so much that he wasn't too concerned with the consequences.

So much so, that he was now going to do something completely stupid. Beth had seen him naked, but he had yet to see her naked. He figured it was only fair that he get his turn at walking in on her in the shower. If she caught him, though, it might spell disaster for his plans for her, so he had to be extra careful. Even though she had done the same thing to him, it didn't necessarily mean that she would forgive him.

He became aroused every time he thought about how she had snuck in to see him naked. Knowing that she had been turned on by watching him masturbate was so hot, and he was hoping to catch her in the act, too. The sound of running water greeted him as he entered the shower area, and then he saw Beth.

Daryl had fantasized about this many times, but the sight of her nude body took his breath away. It had been a long time since he had seen a naked woman, let alone one as young and pretty as Beth. She was facing the spray of water as she soaped up her back. His eyes roamed over her even as he knew that she would soon turn to rinse off her back. He had to leave before she caught him watching her, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. She turned then and saw him. Instinctively, she started to cover herself with her hands.

"Don't," he rasped.

Her arms fell to her sides as they stared at each other. The way she was looking at him was better than anything he had imagined in his fantasies. He was afraid to move, hardly daring to breathe, for fear of breaking the spell. She raised her hand toward him, and he realized that she wanted him to come to her. In a daze, he began to remove his shirt.

"No," she said. "Leave it on."

He wasn't about to argue with her. Whatever she wanted was what he was going to do. She motioned to him with her hand, and he wasted no time in getting to her.

"I dreamed it would happen this way."

Daryl understood then that she wanted to recreate something that had happened in a dream. As he kissed her passionately and slid his hands down her wet, naked body, he wondered if he wasn't dreaming himself.

Notes:

Thank you so much to everyone who is reading this story!

To the guest who was worried about insulting me, that is almost impossible to do. I mean it when I say I appreciate everyone's honest opinion.

I'm a big fan of physical attraction, and I write the kind of stories I like to read. In our world, people bond over activities and entertainment. In the Walking Dead world, they don't have much to connect over besides their struggle to survive and maybe talking about their pasts. You may notice that I don't have much plot in my stories, because that is too much work for me. I hardly touch on the other characters or even the walkers. My focus is the couple. I do believe that intense physical attraction can turn into love, because I've experienced it myself.

Having said that, for me to write a deep, meaningful love story would take an entire book. I'm just not going to put that much time and effort into fanfics. This is my fun, pressure-free writing. I just write what comes to me and don't worry about it, which is why I don't have to agonize over writer's block on these stories.


	10. What She Wanted

What She Wanted

Now that she was naked in Daryl's arms, Beth admitted to herself that this was what she had wanted all along. Ever since she'd had that dream, she had fantasized about it every time she took a shower. That was even before he had started trying to seduce her. Every moment alone they spent together had fueled her desire for him. It was more than raging hormones. She had never wanted anyone as much as she wanted Daryl.

Beth was now on fire from his kisses as he pulled back to look at her. "Tell me what happened in your dream, what you want me to do."

"You were here with me like this," she said haltingly. "And you, um, with your mouth, you…" Her hand grazed her nipple.

He leaned down and began to suck on it. Beth moaned in pleasure at the sensation. Seeing him do it was almost as erotic as feeling it. The front of her body was exposed as water flowed down her back. Daryl's desire darkened eyes watched her expression as he slowly, teasingly lowered his head toward her other nipple and flicked his tongue at it. Then the dream memory melded with the reality as he sank to his knees while he continued to drive her wild with his mouth, and her moans filled the room.

His hand was pressed firmly against her lower back, and she gasped when his other hand touched her between her legs. He had found a spot that she never knew existed and was now rubbing against it with his thumb. It soon rivaled the pleasure he was giving her with his mouth. It became almost too much, and she was torn between wanting more and hardly being able to stand it. Then it tipped into an urgent need that built into stronger and stronger waves of pleasure within her.

She was moaning and calling out his name as her entire world became the sensations he was giving her. Beth went hurtling toward some unstoppable end. When it came, she screamed with the intensity of it. Daryl kept her from collapsing on the floor. He put an arm around her waist as he led her to sit down on the bench. She caught her breath as he went to turn off the shower.

"What else happened in your dream?" His eyes still watched her in a hungry way.

"That was much more than what I dreamed."

He took off his wet clothes. Then he kissed her and maneuvered her to lie down on the bench. "I got more for you. Much more," he said as he slipped a finger inside her.

Then he pulled her down to the end of the bench and lifted her legs to enter her with a groan. He started to move slowly within her at first, but then he moaned as his thrusts became more frenzied. Beth had just become fully aroused again when he came inside her.

"Fuck! I wanted to make you come again first, but it made me so crazy listening to you moanin and screamin like that." He pulled out of her and took her hand to help her sit up before he kissed her. "Gonna make it up to you next time."

Beth wanted him to understand that he had changed the way she felt about sex. "Daryl, that was the first time I've ever had—an orgasm."

He stared at her. "You serious?"

She found herself telling him about what Jessica had told her, and about her failed attempt at masturbation.

He smiled. "Down there ain't telling you much. You gotta find the right spot."

Beth smiled back at him. "I know that now." She stood up to get her clothes and stopped to look at him. "Oh, your clothes are all wet. I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about. Was worth it. So, I was wearing clothes in your dream?"

"Yeah, you walked in on me when I was taking a shower."

"That the dream you had the morning after you went on that supply run?" Daryl asked.

"How do you—"

"I heard you moanin," he said. "Thought you had somebody with you, but you were sleepin. Then you called out my name."

Beth was mortified. "I did?"

"You gonna be embarrassed now after we just got done havin sex?"

"My dream was private."

"It was about you and me, and you liked it. Don't need to be embarrassed about what you like." His eyes moved over her body again. "Gonna find out everything you like."

She got that fluttering feeling in her stomach again until he looked away from her. "Better get dressed and get back before someone comes looking for you."

"What about you?"

"Gonna wait awhile. Can't be walking back from your shower with me in wet clothes." He waited until she got dressed and walked her to the end of the hallway. Then he kissed her one more time before saying goodnight.

Beth slept soundly that night and didn't worry until the morning about what was going to happen now that Daryl had gotten what he wanted from her.


	11. Addicted

Addicted

Daryl had forgotten to use a condom. All he had expected to do was see her naked, so he hadn't even brought one with him to the shower. Then in the sheer excitement of actually being able to have sex with her, he had been too far gone to give birth control a second thought. This had never happened to him before, no matter how horny he was. Beth hadn't said a word about it either, but he considered it his responsibility anyway.

Despite his worry over the consequences of his actions last night, he already wanted her again. Every time he looked at her he had to look away, because all he could think about was the way she had responded to him yesterday. Now that he knew what had happened in her dream, it made even that memory hotter. Knowing that she had wanted to fulfill that particular fantasy with him was sexy as hell.

He wondered what else she wanted to try. He could think of so many things that he wanted to do to her. Last night he had been crazed with desire for her, and today was turning out the same way. Night couldn't come fast enough as he waited to be alone with her again. He shouldn't have given Merle half those condoms back. At this rate, he was going to run out within a week. What he needed was to raid the factory that had made them, but it was probably all the way in China. From now on, his supply runs were going to include looking for condoms, and he wasn't sharing them with anyone else.

After dinner, Beth wandered off and Daryl followed her. They had long since cleared the prison of walkers, but he didn't like seeing her walking this far by herself. Humans were more resourceful than walkers, and you never knew when one might sneak in here. Just like when he silently followed his prey when he was hunting, he followed Beth to the visiting room on the other side of the prison. Here there were benches and tables where loved ones could sit and visit with prisoners. Beth walked around the room aimlessly until she spotted Daryl watching her from the doorway. Her startled blue eyes looked at him and then at her feet.

"You lookin for me?" He moved toward her with purpose and tilted her chin up to kiss her the way he'd wanted to all day. "Now that you found me, what you gonna do with me?"

"You still want me?"

The question surprised him, as he had been worried that everyone could tell how much he wanted her. "Told you last night that I did."

"Yes, but today I wasn't sure."

He placed her hand over the bulge in his pants. "You sure now?"

Her skin became flushed, and she took a shaky breath. "I thought you were just being nice. You know, when you said goodnight."

"Oh, I'm gonna be nice," he said suggestively. "I'm gonna be real nice."

Daryl couldn't understand how she could still be embarrassed around him after what they had done together in the shower. He had to admit, though, that she was very cute as she stumbled over her words. "I can't tonight. I, uh, have. Today, I, uh, got my, uh." Her face was turning red as she tried to finish her sentence.

"You got your period?" He was flooded with relief as she nodded. "That's good."

"It is?" She had obviously not expected that reaction.

"We didn't use nothing last night."

He watched realization dawn on her face. "Oh! You mean a condom. I didn't think. Do you even have any?"

"Some. Gonna have to get more. Lot's more. So, you get some rest til your period's over. Ain't gonna get much sleep after that." He enjoyed the reaction that got out of her, but he was only half teasing. He kissed her again. "Guess I'll just have to dream about you tonight."

"Should probably get back before they send a search party for you." He walked to the door and waited for her.

"Daryl," Beth said hesitantly. "I want to…"

He got to her in milliseconds. "Yeah, whatever you want to do. Just tell me."

Instead of saying anything, she unzipped his pants and touched him through his underwear. Then she slipped her hand inside them, and he groaned when he felt her grasp him. "You should take your clothes off," she whispered in his ear.

It seemed that she was already picking up his seduction techniques, and he loved it. He was quickly naked and eager to see what she would do next. She had him sit down on a bench and took a seat next to him. Then she began to stroke him in the same way as he had done himself the day she had walked in on him in the shower. He began to moan and saw the lust in her eyes as she touched him. Her breathing had quickened along with his.

"Tell me what you want," he demanded between breaths.

"I want to see you come." Hearing her say that as she watched his face took him over the edge, and he exploded in her hand.

Later he would realize that she was repeating what he had said to her after she had watched him masturbate. It meant that she was remembering and thinking about the time they had spent alone together as much as he was. Beth was taking her cues from him in an effort to please him, and he couldn't get enough of her.

He hadn't been this hot for anyone since he was a young man. His goal had been to seduce her, but she was now seducing him. His student was a quick learner, and he wondered how much longer it would be before she could read him like a book.


	12. Away

Away

Daryl was going hunting with Merle for a few days. It was the perfect time to go, since Beth had her period. Hopefully, it would help to take his mind off of her for awhile. Still, he didn't like leaving her. The last time he had been gone, she had been in a dangerous situation. Although she had been up to the task and even saved Rick's life, he now found himself worrying about her.

"Don't go wandering around by yourself," he warned her.

"Whenever you feel like going for a walk, I will be happy to accompany you," Milton said.

Merle took the opportunity to needle Daryl about this. "I bet he would."

Daryl liked Milton and wasn't worried about him. Besides, he and Andrea seemed pretty close since he had helped her escape from Woodbury. He had taken a big chance in freeing her from the governor's sick torture chamber. If he had been caught, he probably would have been killed or worse. Then they had been forced to flee on foot and made it to the prison to find out that it had already been attacked by the governor.

No, the man Daryl wanted to stay away from Beth wasn't Milton but Joshua. The young man had said that he guessed he was about twenty-nine years old. None of them knew their exact ages anymore, because it had become too hard to keep track of the months. The seasons were their only indication of what time of year it was. Judy was about a year old, because Hershel said that babies started walking at about a year.

Joshua hadn't been with the governor's people when they attacked, because he had claimed to be sick. Rick was amused by Daryl's dislike of the man. "You don't like him because he didn't want to attack us? What about Tyrese and Sasha? They wouldn't fight either."

"That's different. They told the governor no to his face. Didn't pretend to be sick."

"How do you know he was pretending? Maybe he was really sick," Rick said.

"Seemed fine when we got to Woodbury. One hell of a fast recovery, if you ask me."

Whether or not he had been faking, staying in Woodbury had saved his life. Considering that the governor had killed most of his own people that day, Joshua was the youngest man to relocate from Woodbury to the prison. They hadn't seen the governor since, and Daryl hoped the bastard was dead.

"Be careful," Beth told him when they got a moment alone.

"You gonna miss me?" He couldn't kiss her goodbye, because they were still in full view of the group, although they were far enough away not to be overheard.

"Yes," she said in her open and honest way.

"I'm gonna miss you, too. Gonna show you how much when I get back." His words had the intended affect, as she blushed under his heated gaze.

That would give her something to think about while he was gone. Hell, it was already giving him something to think about too, and he had to focus on what he had to do now. The walkers were slower and weaker than they had been in the beginning, but they were still a threat as a group. Daryl wondered if Joshua had ever tried to make a move on Beth. If he had, she had surely shot him down. Of course, that was before she had found out that she liked sex.

"Whatsa matter? Can't stand to be away from your honey?"

Daryl immediately turned it around on Merle. "What about you? I know you wouldn't ask me for the rubbers if you weren't planning on using em. Who you been foolin with?"

"You're gonna scare away all the animals with your yammering."

Daryl was intrigued. Merle had always boasted about his sexual conquests until now. He wondered which woman in the group had caused him to clam up like this. Except for Maggie, all the women were single, including the ones from Woodbury. Then he realized that Beth appeared to be single, too, because they were hooking up in secret. He had his suspicions about Andrea and Milton. Rick and Michone seemed to be awfully close as well. Still, they could all be just friends. Who knew what was really going on in secret?

Wait, what was he thinking about Beth? She was single. Not like they were married or anything. He turned his thoughts back to the task at hand.

Notes:

I changed the story from what happened on the show. It's great that I can bring Milton and Andrea back from Woodbury the way I wanted it to happen. Merle also survived in my version. I don't care what happened to the governor as long as he's not bothering my people.


	13. Passion

Passion

Beth was staying busy and trying not to worry. She found herself with so much nervous energy that she just kept going all day until she went to bed exhausted. With Judy walking now, they couldn't turn their backs on her for a minute. Luckily, there were plenty of people eager to watch her. Being one of only two babies in the prison meant that she was spoiled with attention. The other baby belonged to a woman from Woodbury who had actually given birth in the town a few days before it was abandoned.

As much as Beth loved Judy, she was too restless to stay in their section of the prison all day. The day that Daryl left on his hunting trip was the first time she tried to wander off alone, but Maggie joined her.

"You're not supposed to be going off by yourself."

Beth was not in a good mood, but she tried not to show her irritation. "I don't need a babysitter."

"I know I'm not as good company as Daryl, but I am your sister."

Beth hoped she had a neutral expression on her face. "Why are you talking about Daryl?"

Maggie laughed. "You guys haven't exactly been discreet. Every time you disappear, he does too. If you're in the shower, he's nowhere to be found. Do I need to go on?"

"Oh no," Beth said. "Do you think everybody knows?"

"If they do, they're not saying anything about it. Anyway, you're not the only ones sneaking off to be alone. It's just that the tension between you two was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. You've really got it bad for him, huh?"

Maggie was the only person Beth could talk to about these things. "I never knew it could be like that. I just can't stop thinking about him."

"He feels the same way about you."

"Do you really think so?" Beth asked.

"Oh yeah! I've seen the way he looks at you, even though he tries to hide it."

Beth sighed. "I just hope he'll be safe."

The next day, Joshua joined her on her walk to the other side of the prison. They walked in uncomfortable silence for awhile, each thinking their own thoughts. Beth was remembering last winter when he tried to kiss her. He had been training her in self defense, because he had a black belt in one of the martial arts. Beth had been fascinated by this, and he had offered to teach her some techniques. You never knew when it would come in handy, he said. Anyway, it would help pass the time, as they really had very few options for entertainment. Things had gone well for a couple weeks until one day when he leaned over to kiss her. She had backed away, and he had been embarrassed and apologized. That had been the end of her training, as he had pretty much avoided her after that. She was surprised that he would seek her out now.

"I was thinking that we should resume your training. It's a great way to relieve stress."

She was at a loss as of what to say. "Oh."

"Look, Beth, I know you're with Daryl. I'm not trying to pick you up. I just want to help.

"Daryl? Um—"

Joshua smiled. "You've got one of those faces that's easy to read. Anyway, I'm with someone now, too."

She waited for him to tell her who the woman was, but he didn't elaborate. Now her curiosity was piqued. She would have to watch him to see if she could pick up on who his mystery lady was. He was right about the stress relief, especially as another day passed without Daryl's return. Concentrating on the fighting and blocking moves helped alleviate some of her frustration.

The next day, she absolutely had to have some time to herself. Making conversation with people had become difficult for her, as her mind was completely occupied with Daryl. Beth did finally manage to get away without anyone tagging along.

It helped to helped to explore and make plans instead of just waiting. Tomorrow, she told herself. Tomorrow he'll be back.

She figured it was probably time to start making dinner, so she went to help with the preparation. Andrea was in the kitchen with Carol looking at the supplies in the pantry. Before she could say anything, Carl came running in to tell them that Daryl and Merle were back with a deer, among other things.

"Guess that changes our dinner plans," Carol said.

"Yeah. Oh, Merle's going in the shower first. Then Daryl." Carl took off running again.

"Let's see what else they brought back," Carol said. They would probably smoke the rest of the meat to make it last longer.

They started to walk back, and then Andrea stopped. "I'll catch up with you later." She went down another hallway as Carol and Beth continued toward the cell block. Carol's lips twitched in an effort to hold back a smile.

"What's so funny?" Beth asked.

The smile won. "Your men are back."

"Our…" Beth stopped walking and stared at Carol. "You mean Andrea and Merle are…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

Carol was even more amused. "Why are you so shocked?"

"I thought she was with Milton."

"No sweetie," Carol said. "They're just good friends."

"Did she tell you that?" Beth was still reeling over this news.

"No, she didn't. Just like you didn't have to tell me about you and Daryl."

"Wow," Beth said. "Everybody knows."

"It's hard to keep secrets living in such close quarters the way we do."

They approached the rest of the group now, so their conversation came to an end. Beth saw Daryl and had to stop herself from running up to kiss him. Her subdued manner when she spoke to him was at odds with the excitement building within her. "I'm glad you're back."

"Me, too." His eyes didn't linger on her too long, but she felt like the air between them was charged with unspoken words.

He and Merle had also brought back rabbits and squirrels, and the group was deciding what to cook now, and what to save for later. Beth quietly helped with the dinner preparation as the rest of the women chattered excitedly. Andrea appeared and silently took her place in the activity.

"Your turn, little brother," Merle said as he returned from the shower.

"Okay," Daryl said. He glanced toward the women and walked away.

Beth stood there in indecision for a few minutes that seemed like an eternity.

"Beth, why don't you take a break?" Carol spoke casually.

"Yeah," Andrea said. "You've been working too hard lately. Go relax until dinner's ready."

"Um, okay thanks," Beth said and made her escape. She tried not to walk too fast.

She sped up when she was in the hallway walking toward the shower. Daryl was leaning against the wall and stepped forward as she threw her arms around him. "Thank God you're safe!"

"Hey," he soothed. "It's okay."

"I was so worried," she mumbled against him.

"I'm back. Everything's okay," he spoke into her hair. He pulled back to look at her. "What about you? Been staying out of trouble?"

"Yeah, just waiting for you to get back," she said.

"I been missing you. You're so much prettier to look at than Merle."

That got a smile out of her. "I missed you, too."

"We gotta make up for lost time," Daryl said as he took her hand.

Beth began to walk into the shower room with him and then hesitated, thinking about who had just taken a shower and what had probably happened in there.

He laughed at her expression. "Why don't you wait for me, and then we can go to another cell block. Be nice to have a bed this time."

"Actually, I found a couch."

"Did you now? Okay, wanna sit on the bench while I take a shower?"

She wondered if Merle and Andrea had used the bench. "I'll just wait out here."

When he came back out, he kissed her. She knew he had just brushed his teeth, because his mouth was minty. They walked down the hallway as she led him toward the warden's office.

"You won't believe this, but Merle's got a woman. Won't say who she is."

"It's Andrea," Beth said.

Daryl looked at her in surprise. "Andrea! Who told you that?"

"Carol. It came as a shock to me, too. I thought she was with Milton."

"Me too. Well, don't that beat all. Thought she didn't even like Merle," he said.

They walked on in silence as Beth's thoughts left behind the puzzle of Andrea and Merle while excitement coursed through her at the thought of being alone with Daryl again. Her period was over, and she was wondering if sex would be just as great with him now as it had been the first time in the shower. "This is it," she said as they walked into the warden's office.

The room was spacious with two windows giving plenty of light from outside. There was a sturdy desk with a nice, comfortable-looking chair facing a large, black leather couch. It seemed there had been plenty of money in the budget for the warden's office.

Daryl looked at the thick coat of dust on the desk and then locked eyes with Beth.

"I cleaned the dust off the couch."

"Getting it ready for us," he said in a tone of voice that heated her blood. "Did you get turned on thinking about what I was gonna do to you in here?"

"Yes." Her breathing was already uneven, and he hadn't even touched her yet.

He came up behind her and slipped his hands under her shirt to cup her breasts and run his thumbs over the nipples, causing her to moan. He spoke in her ear. "Did you touch yourself?"

She shivered. "No."

In one swift movement, he pulled her shirt up over her head. "Why not?"

"I couldn't. I was worried about you and…"

He took her bra off. "And?"

"I wanted to wait for you."

Daryl pulled her shorts and panties down together, and she stepped out of them. Still standing behind her, he slid his hand down her stomach and touched her between her legs. He sucked in his breath. "So fucking wet already."

She leaned back against him and moaned as he began to play with her. He was hard and pressing into her. Then he sat down on the couch and pulled her to stand in front of him. He began to suck on her nipples and drive her crazy with desire.

"Daryl please," she cried out.

"Please what?" His tongue moved down to lick her stomach.

"I want you." She could barely stand anymore.

"You ready for me, baby?" He scooted over and pulled her to sit down. Then he kissed her deeply before he stood up and pulled a condom out of his pocket. "I'm ready, too."

Beth watched him take his clothes off and put on the condom. Then she lay down as he approached her and climbed up on the couch to position himself between her legs. They both moaned as he slid into her. He paced himself this time as he thrust into her, causing those waves of pleasure to start building within her. She held on tighter to him and moaned louder as she came closer and closer to that frantic release.

"Yeah, baby, come for me," he urged her.

"Oh yes! Oh!" She reached the summit and clenched around him as she came.

He moaned as he finally let himself go. His head came down to rest on her chest for a moment. Then he kissed her and pulled out of her. He disposed of the condom by throwing it out the window. Turning back to look at her, he smiled. "Guess we're late for dinner."


	14. You Taught Me The Ways Of Desire

You Taught Me The Ways Of Desire

Beth thought that Daryl was going to join her in the shower, but he told her that he would meet her in the warden's office. When she finished her shower, she found out that her panties and bra were missing from her clean change of clothes and that her dirty clothes had already been removed from the room.

He was waiting for her when she stepped out into the hallway. "Decided to walk with you."

"What happened to my clothes?"

"Didn't want you to have to carry anything?" He began to walk down the hall with her.

"What about my clean underwear?"

"No sense in putting them on when we're just gonna take em off," Daryl said.

"I'm surprised you didn't make me walk naked," Beth remarked.

"I thought about it," he said as they rounded the corner. Then he stopped her and lifted her shirt to take one of her nipples into his mouth.

She gasped. "Someone could come by."

"Sorry. Couldn't wait."

They continued walking, but he kept stopping at intervals to do the same thing. By the time they reached the warden's office, she was in such a state of arousal that she was desperate to have him. He stopped her from her trajectory toward the couch and directed her to the desk, which had been cleared of everything that had been on it—including the dust. She was surprised that he would choose the desk over the comfort of the couch, but at this point she didn't really care. Maybe it was a fantasy he had. He had fulfilled her fantasy, so she was willing to try his. She shed her clothes in a hurry.

"Now you don't care where your clothes are," he said as he watched her drop them on the floor. He stopped her as she tried to climb onto the desk. "Hold on, baby." He took a seat in the chair and called her over to sit in his lap.

She snuggled against him as he gave her a slow, lingering kiss. Beth tried to run her hands under his shirt. "Not yet," he said. "Just enjoy what I'm doing to you."

She let him take the lead then, as she reminded herself that this was his fantasy. He took time taking the kisses to the usual intensity that she was used to from him. Then he helped her to sit on top of the desk before him and started licking and sucking on her nipples again as she threw back her head and moaned. When he finally had her lay back on the desk, she had to lift her legs up with her feet flat on the desk so she wouldn't be hanging off the edge. This left her legs wide apart, but there was no room for him to get up on top of her.

"Wouldn't it be easier if I lay across it the long way?"

"No," he said as he sat back down in the chair in front of her. "This is how I want you." Then he leaned forward and began to lick her between her legs, and she moaned at the exquisite feel of his tongue there. "Told you I was gonna find out everything you like," he said before he resumed his new way to drive her crazy. After he brought her to orgasm that way, they moved to the couch where he found his own release inside her.

A couple days later, he again stole her underwear while she was taking a shower. She stepped out into the hallway to find him standing there with a cocky grin. As soon as they rounded the corner, he dropped to his knees and pulled down her shorts. She gasped in shock as he began to pleasure her with his tongue.

"Someone might come to take a shower," Beth protested.

"Guess you're gonna have to be really quiet then." He continued to tease her as she leaned against the wall.

She knew he was dragging it out on purpose, because he didn't start really working on her in earnest until he heard someone approaching. That's when she tried to pull away from him, and he stood up to whisper in her ear. "Don't move, or I'll start moaning."

By this time, it was too late for her to make her escape, because she clearly heard Rick talking as Daryl resumed his torture of her.

"Do you think they left yet? I swear, those two are like rabbits."

Beth would have felt embarrassed by this statement if she hadn't been so preoccupied with the feel of Daryl's tongue. She tried to keep her breathing quiet, but she was beginning to sweat with the strain of it.

"I think it's cute," Michone said.

"I did too, until I saw him swipe every box of condoms off the shelf at that grocery store yesterday. He didn't even leave one for the rest of us."

"He's got a young woman to keep satisfied," Michone said.

Beth looked down with a pleading look at Daryl. It was a mistake, because seeing the way he was watching her face turned her on even more. She pressed her arm against her mouth and stared at the wall on the other side of the hallway.

"Go in and check if they're gone," Rick said.

"Coward." Michone laughed.

Fortunately, she came back quickly to tell him the coast was clear. Rick must have followed her into the shower, because the door closed on the sound of their voices. Even so, Beth kept her arm firmly pressed against her mouth until she came. Then Daryl took her right there against the wall.

"You're so fucking hot," he whispered.

Well, she was going to show him how hot she was. Let him be the one struggling to hold back his moans, and she would see how he liked it. She walked quietly toward his cell that night after she felt sure that everyone had to be asleep. She went over what she knew about giving a man oral sex. This information had also come from Jessica, and Beth was nervous but determined.

She woke Daryl with a kiss on the lips. He tried to get her to lay down in bed with him, but she kept standing as she pulled down his pajama pants. Then she kneeled down beside his cot and leaned over to take him in her mouth. She heard his sharp intake of breath. He had been only partially aroused, but he quickly hardened as she began to move her mouth up and down on him. She stayed closer to the tip, because she didn't want to gag. Even so, she heard his breathing accelerate, so she must be doing something right.

Beth had planned this as revenge, but now she began to feel excited too. Knowing how turned on he was turned her on as well. He didn't last much longer before he gently pushed her away. He fumbled in the darkness, and she heard paper rip. Then he pulled her down on the cot and thrust himself into her as she softly sighed in pleasure. In the end, she still had to struggle to hold back her moans, but judging from his heavy breathing so did he.


	15. Trouble

Trouble

Beth had come to him in the middle of the night and…

Knowing that he had unleashed that kind of passion in her blew his mind. Daryl had been worried that he had pushed her a little too far out of her comfort zone. His game in the hallway had been about keeping things exciting for her. What Michone had said was true. Beth was a young woman, and he wanted to keep her satisfied. If even one moan had escaped her he would have stopped immediately, but she didn't know that. He was also sure that Rick and Michone would have run in the other direction if they had heard any sounds of passion. Besides, considering that they had gone into the shower together, it appeared that they were interested in having their own sexy fun.

Daryl's desire for Beth hadn't cooled at all. Seeing her so turned on set him on fire, and he hadn't been able to wait but had picked her up and drove into her right there in the hallway. She had wrapped her legs around him and held onto his shoulders as he leaned her up against the wall and thrust into her wildly. Her blue eyes watched his face the entire time, but he had closed his eyes and moaned as he came inside her. When he opened his eyes again, she had been looking in concern toward the corner. He doubted that Rick and Michone had heard anything, as they were probably completely focused on each other at that point.

They had walked together to the warden's office to get Beth's underwear and the dirty clothes she had removed before her shower. He had planned to have sex with her there before he had been overcome with lust in the hallway. She had to take off her shorts and her shirt in order to put on her bra and panties. Daryl had taken advantage of her naked state and pulled her to sit down on the couch next to him. Then he kissed her while he began to rub the spot between her legs with his thumb. She moaned into his mouth. He then pulled back and watched her as she threw her head back against the couch and let herself go the way she hadn't been able to do in the hallway. This time he didn't tease her but kept rubbing on the spot until she cried out as she came.

"Wanna watch you do that to yourself sometime." He was aroused again, but they had to get back to the cell block.

"I haven't ever done that." Beth was putting on her underwear now.

"Lot's of things you ain't done, but you like em now that you done em." Daryl loved finding the things that turned her on.

"I didn't like what you were doing to me when they could have heard me in the hallway." Beth yanked her shorts up angrily.

"That why you came on my tongue?" Daryl asked.

She glared at him. "That's something to do in private."

"They didn't even know we were there. It was exciting doing that behind their backs. Admit it."

"I can't stand here arguing with you all day. We need to get back before they come looking for us," Beth said.

"I seen what you do. You don't wanna lie, so you don't answer the question."

She had ignored that comment, too. That was the way they had left things, with her seemingly annoyed with him. He couldn't believe it when she had woken him up with a kiss that night in his cell obviously wanting sex again as she proceeded to pull down his pajama pants. When he had felt her take him into her mouth, he had stiffened in shock. Then it had taken all his self control to stay quiet as she began to move her mouth over him. Fortunately, he couldn't see her very well in the dark. Otherwise he would have woken up everybody if he had seen her as well as felt her doing this incredible thing to him. Daryl had fantasized about this, but he never would have asked her to do it for him.

This was the first time she had ever taken the initiative with him and just did what she wanted. What she wanted, he thought, and knew that he wasn't going to last much longer in her mouth with this realization in his mind that what she wanted was to give him a blow job. He moved her off of him as he decided to see if he could break his record and make her come three times in one day. Then he put on one of the condoms he was hoarding and managed to hold off coming until he brought her to orgasm again. He remembered when she had told him that she didn't like sex and thought how much that had changed. She was now as hot for it as he was.

Daryl watched her the next day as she went about her daily routine. When he saw her leave the cell block and enter the hallway, he followed her. "Can't wait to be alone with me again, huh?" He pulled her into a sensual kiss, running his tongue over her bottom lip and sucking on it when she parted her lips. "Been wanting to thank you for what you did last night. Wanna thank you in all kinds of ways."

"Daryl," Beth said in an unsteady voice. "I'm actually on my way to meet Joshua."

He pulled back from her body. "What?"

"He's been teaching me self defense."

"Since when?" Daryl demanded.

"Since you went on your last hunting trip. It's not everyday, just whenever we can get around to it." She smiled at him. "Sometimes I'm too busy."

He didn't even crack a smile on her emphasis on the word busy. "Why you wanna do that all of a sudden?"

"It's not sudden. He started teaching me this past winter, and now he started again."

Daryl pounced on this. "Why'd he stop?" Her blush told him what he wanted to know. "He tried to have sex with you?"

"No! He tried to kiss me. That was all. Anyway, he apologized."

"So now he wants to try again," Daryl said.

"Of course not. He's been a perfect gentleman, and he's with somebody now."

"Who?"

"I don't know," Beth said.

"That's because he's lying, just like he lied about being sick."

"What? When was he sick?" She looked bewildered.

"Never mind about that. What I'm saying is he's just waiting to make a move on you."

"That's not true," she insisted. "He knows I'm with you."

"Daryl!" Merle yelled. "Where you at?"

"Right here," he called. "What you want?"

"Spotted a deer in the tree line," Merle said as he walked up to them. "Gonna help me get it?"

"Yeah."

"See you later," Beth said before she turned and continued in the direction she had been headed when he stopped her.

They had killed all the walkers hanging out by the fences, and no new ones had approached yet. That was probably why the deer had ventured so close to the prison. It was an opportunity they couldn't let fall through their hands, but Daryl wasn't thrilled at the timing.

Beth was unaware of Daryl's turmoil as she went to meet Joshua for her training in the visiting room on the other side of the prison. They practiced a few moves before Sasha interrupted them. "How's it going?"

"I still have a long way to go," Beth laughed.

"Want to join us?" Joshua asked.

"No thanks. You stick to what you're good at, and I'll stick to what I'm good at." She turned to Beth. "I can outshoot him anytime, anywhere."

"I can beat up anybody anytime, anywhere."

Sasha walked up to him. "Since I don't need you to beat up anyone, it's good you have other skills." Then she leaned in to kiss him. She turned and caught Beth smiling. "Just checking."

"Sasha!" Joshua was clearly embarrassed.

"It's okay," Beth said. "My, uh, someone I know wasn't happy about me training with you either."

"You mean Daryl," Sasha said.

Beth covered her face with her hands. "I guess absolutely everybody knows."

Sasha patted her arm. "No reason to be embarrassed." She turned back to Joshua. "See you later, Bruce Lee."

"See you later, Annie Oakley," Joshua said.

"How cute!" Beth smiled in amusement.

"Yes, well, where were we?" Joshua went back to being all business.

It was later when they were completely involved in their training, that Daryl found them and watched silently hidden from their view. Joshua was grabbing her wrists and having her practice how to break his hold. Then he put his arm around her neck, and she laughed as she failed to get out of it. "Show me again what I'm supposed to do."

The young man had blue eyes that were a striking contrast to his jet black hair. It was more than his good looks that had Daryl on edge. It was how right the two of them looked together, both of them young and vital. He wondered how much longer it would be before Joshua stole Beth from him.


	16. Under My Skin

Under My Skin

Beth was singing a lullaby to Judy as she prepared to put her down for the night.

Daryl came striding in. "I wanna talk to you."

Carol stood up to leave as Beth looked up at him in surprise.

"Not here," Daryl said in that same short tone of voice.

"I'll take her," Carol said.

Beth thanked her and handed over the baby as Daryl waited impatiently for her. Once they left the cell block, she struggled to keep up with him as she followed him down the hallway.

"What's going on?"

"That's what I wanna ask you," Daryl snapped.

"What do you mean?"

He didn't answer as he kept going at full speed. She soon realized that they were headed toward the warden's office. He walked into the room before her, and she jumped as he slammed the door behind her. His mouth was set in an angry line.

The room's illumination came from the moonlight pouring in through the windows and from a candle someone had lit. Beth took in the scene as she tried to figure out why Daryl was mad at her.

"I didn't tell anyone. They just knew."

She stood there waiting for him to say something as he seemed to study her. "Take your clothes off," he commanded. Then he sat down on the couch and waited for her to comply.

How dare he assume that he had that much control over her? She should tell him to go to hell and walk out, but her body was already betraying her. Despite everything she still wanted him, and he knew it. As she bared herself to his silent stare, she was already anticipating his touch. Beth stood naked before him and waited to see what he would do. His eyes slowly roamed over her body as all her nerve endings seemed to come alive under his burning gaze.

"Come here," Daryl said in a voice rough with desire.

Beth walked up to him and stood between his legs as he sat forward and began to rub her with his thumb the way she liked. "You gonna let him touch you like this?"

"Who?" She was starting to suspect what this was about.

"Joshua. Or do you got somebody else besides him?" Even as he spoke, he was still pleasuring her.

"I only have. Oh! Only you." Talking was becoming difficult for her.

With his other hand, he slipped a finger inside her. "You gonna let him touch you here?"

"No," she moaned.

He began to pump his finger in and out of her as he continued to rub her pleasure spot. When she felt herself getting close, he stopped and removed his hands from her. He smirked at the expression on her face. "Not yet. Course, you can finish the job yourself if you can't wait."

The look she gave him told him the answer to that. "No?" He motioned for her to step back so he could stand up. Leading her to stand before the arm of the couch, he stood behind her. "Bend over the couch."

She turned to look at him. "Wh-why?"

Daryl just watched her, and she knew that he wouldn't answer. With some trepidation, she did as he asked. He positioned her so that her upper body was lying on the seat of the couch while her legs and rear were over the side. "Stay like that." There was silence for a moment. "Yeah, just like that."

Beth held her position and waited with her heart pounding. She heard the sound of him ripping open another condom. Then she felt his body against hers as he leaned over her and spoke into her ear. "I got you under my skin, Beth. Can't think about nothing else. Can't stand seeing you with him."

She was going to tell him then that Joshua was with Sasha, but he entered her with a slow thrust, and she lost herself in the way he made her feel.


	17. Taken

Taken

Beth woke just before dawn and decided to go outside and watch the sunrise. She had awhile before Judy would wake. You could set your clock by that kid, if they still did such things. Her thoughts turned to Daryl, as they usually did. They were going to have a talk today, and she wasn't going to let him distract her with his sensual games. The way he kept coming up with new ways to excite her was beyond what she had ever imagined sex could be. What he didn't realize was that she wanted him and craved his touch. He didn't need to play games to keep her interested. That he would even think that she wanted anyone else surprised her. Didn't he see how crazy she was about him?

Her heart soared when she remembered what he had said to her last night about how she was under his skin and that he couldn't stop thinking about her. She felt exactly the same way about him. He had been in a satisfied, mellow mood after their steamy lovemaking, and she had decided not to risk upsetting him right then by bringing up Joshua's name. Today would be soon enough to hash things out.

"Well, I didn't expect to be greeted in such a lovely way."

Beth turned to see the governor pointing a gun at her. She had never seen him up close before, but she was sure it was him because he had a patch over one eye. How many bad guys could there be in this area with patches over there eyes? It must be the shock making her think such thoughts as she froze in terror.

"Looks like you'll be my guest in Woodbury," he said in that same deceptively pleasant manner.

He told her to walk out the gate as he continued to hold the gun on her. She walked on wooden legs toward his car. Joshua had stressed several times that everything he was teaching her was no match against a bullet. The governor told her to take a piece of paper and a pen out of his glove box and write down what he told her. She still had not spoken one word as she followed his instructions. He had her place the note on the ground inside the fence with a rock holding it in place. For a crazy few seconds, she considered throwing the rock at him.

Then she was hoping to attack him in the car, but he made her drive. As he directed her toward Woodbury, she thought about trying to kill him by crashing the car. At least then he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Life was better than it had been in a long time, and she didn't want to die. She would bide her time and try to make her escape at the first opportunity. The good news was that he seemed to be alone. That helped her odds considerably, even though he had a gun and she didn't.

When they arrived in Woodbury, however, her heart sank to see a group of armed men there. "Well, what have we here?" one of them asked as he leered at her.

"Gentlemen, I have a proposition for you," said the governor.


	18. Ain't No Sunshine Without You

Ain't No Sunshine Without You

Most of them were already awake when Carol came running into the cell block. "He's got Beth!" She was clutching a piece of paper with a stricken look on her face as she hurried to Rick.

Daryl was holding Judy but quickly handed her to Carl. "Who's got Beth?"

"The governor," Carol said as she handed the paper to Rick.

"It's a note from Beth," Rick said. "The governor is taking her to Woodbury and…" His voice trailed off.

"He wants to trade her for me," Michone finished, even though she couldn't possibly read the note from where she was standing.

Maggie just barely beat Daryl to the door. The only reason Rick got there first was because he had been standing much closer to it than either of them, and they had gotten their weapons before barreling toward it.

Rick blocked the door. "Wait, we need a plan."

"I'm gonna kill him and get her back. That's the fucking plan!" Daryl yelled.

"Get out of our way!" Maggie shouted.

"Rick is right." Glenn was trying to reason with Maggie. "We don't know how many people he's got with him."

"I don't care," Maggie cried. "We have to get her back."

"We will," Rick said. "But we have to be smart about it. We'll only have one chance. We've got to decide who's going and who's staying here."

"I'm going," Michone said.

"No," Rick said. "It's too dangerous. If he gets a hold of you…"

"He'll kill her if I'm not there."

A look passed between Michone and Rick, and he nodded in defeat.

Joshua walked up holding a gun. "I'm ready." He noticed Daryl's surprised look. "I'm not a coward. I just have to believe something's worth fighting for."

"Where the hell do you think you're going? You can't shoot for shit. Karate chops won't stop bullets," Sasha said.

"It's Beth!"

"I know, baby. We all feel the same way." Sasha held up her gun. "That's why I'm going."

Anna, an elderly former resident of Woodbury, walked up to Daryl. "Bring her back to us. When I lost my granddaughter after this hell began, I wished I was dead. I can't survive losing Beth, too."

"We ain't gonna lose her," Daryl said. "I'll die before that happens."

"I know son," Hershel said. "Just don't lose your head. Focus on what needs to be done instead of on your rage. Beth's life depends on it."

"I'd kill that bastard myself if these old legs weren't slowing me down so much," Henry, another former Woodbury resident, said as he leaned on his cane. "That girl's never had an unkind word to say about anyone."

"I'm going too," Milton said.

"Milton," Andrea began.

"I'm going!"

"Andrea, we don't have time to—"

Andrea cut Rick off. "It's okay. He'll be with me."

"We're going to finish it this time," Glenn said.

"Bastard's not getting away from me this time," Merle said. The governor hadn't been left with many men after Merle had taken out eight of his guys. Daryl had been pissed at him for going off alone like that and almost getting himself killed. He had come back cussing up a storm, because he hadn't been able to kill the governor.

Now they were going together to get Beth back and end the threat once and for all. The governor wasn't going to walk away alive, Daryl thought. Not after putting his hands on Beth. Daryl's heart constricted at the thought of that evil bastard touching her. It was all he could do not to go tearing off for Woodbury immediately as he forced himself to focus on their plan for getting Beth out of there.


	19. Plans

Plans

They would normally already have killed the man and taken the woman, but he had told them that there were more women. This Phillip claimed that the girl's people were holed up in a prison, and that he would take them there if they helped him kill the men that were coming to get her. Tommy thought it sounded like a sweet set up, and he had agreed to the deal. He and his guys had stopped in this deserted town to scavenge for supplies, but it had already been picked over. They were just about to leave when the man with the patch over his eye had shown up with the pretty blond he was holding hostage.

"You should set up some guards around the perimeter," Phillip said.

"Don't think you're going to be telling us what to do." Nate eyed the terrified girl. "Since we're helping you out, how about you let us try her out? We haven't had any pussy for awhile."

"You don't have time for that right now. Her people are coming, and they're not far. You can do what you want with her after we kill them. In fact, the women will all be yours, but Michone is mine."

Nate had no intention of leaving even one woman for that guy. The man was already beginning to annoy him, but he would play nice until Phillip showed them the prison. Then they were going to kill him and party with the women.

"What kind of name is Michone?" Mike asked him when they were out of earshot of Phillip.

"Must be a foreign chick. She has to be super hot if he's willing to give up that pretty little thing for her."

"I can't wait to get my hands on her. We should keep these alive for awhile. Pussy's getting scarce, man," Mike lamented.

"I hear you. This plan is perfect for that. Being it's a prison, we can keep them locked up in the cells and have them any time we feel like it," Nate said.

As Nate and Mike talked, James was making his own plans. He had always tried to shield his daughter from as much of the ugliness as he could. This time, however, he had stood there with her as this Phillip held a gun on his scared young captive. As he listened to the man talk about the people in the prison, an idea began to form in his mind.

The time that James had been dreading had arrived. Jenny had been ten years old when he became a part of this evil group of men. He had turned a blind eye to their raping and pillaging in order to keep his daughter safe from the walkers. Fortunately, he always had looking after her as an excuse for not participating in their heinous activities. The only reason they tolerated him was because he had been a doctor before all this madness began. They took advantage of his medical skills and otherwise left him and his daughter in peace.

They had once been thirty men strong, but now they were down to half that number. Dave and Tony had gotten themselves killed in a bar fight of all things. Sean and that weasel, Randall, had also died in the ensuing shoot out. James had secretly been pleased every time one of them didn't come back, even though it meant that they had less manpower. He wanted to strangle them when he heard them laughing about raping women. Still, he held his tongue and swallowed his hatred of them.

Now, however, Jenny's body was beginning to develop. He no longer trusted those jackals around her, and he knew that he had to escape with her soon. This new man, Phillip, had said that the group in the prison included women and children. James knew that they were Jenny's best chance for what passed for a normal life these days. He was going to wait for the blond girl's people to arrive, and then he was going to take out as many of these jackals as he could before they killed him.

James had gone to the shooting range all the time with his dad when he was a kid. He had even won some shooting competitions as a teen. Fortunately, the jackals didn't know about his shooting skills, and that would help him take them by surprise.

He had stopped praying to God when he'd made what he considered to be a deal with the devil. Now, James began to pray fervently that these new people would take in his Jenny and be good to her after he was gone.


	20. The Final Battle

The Final Battle

Rick, Glenn, and Michone walked into Woodbury with their hands up. This they were directed to do by a man holding a gun on them. They weren't happy to see the group of men waiting for them inside. Even worse, the governor stood further back holding a gun on Beth. Three men came forward to frisk them as the rest held guns on them.

"We left our weapons in the car," Rick said.

"Really?" The governor raised an eyebrow as he looked at the sword slung over Michone's shoulder.

"She wouldn't come in without it," Rick said.

"Where's the rest? Don't tell me only you two came to get the girl," Phillip said.

"They're guarding the prison. Whoever you sent there won't find it easy pickings," Rick answered.

"Glenn. I'm surprised to see you here."

"Beth is my sister-in-law." Glenn answered as he looked in concern toward her.

"Ah, Maggie's sister. How is dear Maggie?"

Glenn stared daggers at him. "Let's just make the trade."

Phillips eyes turned toward Michone. "Drop the sword on the ground and come here."

While everyone was looking at Michone to make sure she didn't try anything, James used the same laser focus that had served him so well while he performed surgery. His hands were steady as he zeroed in on his targets and shot three of the jackals in the back of the head before anyone realized what was happening. He had positioned himself at the back of the group as they heard the girl's people arrive. Just as they were all turning toward him while he continued to fire at them, more gunfire erupted from all sides. James was able to kill three more men while others were taken out by the hidden attackers.

James was out of bullets as Nate charged at him. "Fucking traitor!" He yelled as he leveled his gun at James before he was felled by—an arrow?

Joshua had told Beth never to take her eyes off her opponent. She had steeled herself to the sound of the gunfire she knew was coming, so she was ready when the governor became distracted by it and dropped his guard. He instinctively turned his gun toward the sound, and she pushed his arm up as she kneed him in the groin. He gasped in pain and loosened his grip on the gun enough for her to take it from him. She quickly moved back out of his reach as she held it on him.

The governor's chest began to flood with crimson as he collapsed on the ground. Beth turned to see Milton pointing a gun at him before he slowly lowered it. She realized that the sounds of gunfire had stopped.

"Milton!" Andrea screamed and ran up to him with tears brimming in her eyes.

The gun fell out of his hand and dropped to the ground. "He wasn't the man I hoped he was."

"I know." Andrea's tears were flowing now as she tried to embrace Milton.

For a moment, his face showed anguish, and then he closed it off. "Not here."

Andrea took his hand, and they walked away together.

"Beth!" Daryl ran to her, but they were all behind him and converged on her as he hugged her.

Nobody but Rick saw Michone stop to run her sword through the governor's head. "Don't want him coming back again."

Rick walked up to her and kissed her fiercely. "It's finally over."

"You all came," Beth marveled.

"Didn't nobody want to see Daryl cry. Ain't a pretty sight," Merle said.

"Tyrese and Joshua wanted to come too, but somebody had to stay behind and keep watch on everybody until we came back. Plus, neither one of them is exactly handy with a gun. Good thing they have me," Sasha said.

"Daddy!" Jenny came running out of a building to fling her arms around James. He had told her to come out after the gunfire ended. He cried and said a prayer of thanks as he hugged his precious little girl. James had been sure that he was going to die and leave her to the mercy of strangers.

Carol watched the touching scene with the father and daughter, and then she picked up the gun that Milton had dropped. She smiled at Beth through her tears. "Let's not keep Hershel waiting to see you."

"Yeah," Maggie agreed. "Let's go home."

"Kinda sucks that Milton was the one to take out the governor," Carl said.

"Carl!" Rick admonished, but Michone laughed.

"We all done it together," Daryl said. "We got Beth back." His voice broke at the end, and he cleared his throat.

She smiled tremulously at him, feeling safe once again with his arm around her as they walked out of Woodbury together.


	21. New Beginnings

New Beginnings

"Here we all thought Milton had something going with Andrea, when he had a thing for the governor the whole time. Did you know about that?"

"I talk to my woman. You oughta try it sometime," Merle said.

Showed how much he knew. Daryl had heard it from Beth, who had heard it from Carol. He waited for Merle to say something derogatory about Milton's sexual orientation, but his brother's next words left him speechless.

"Andrea would've been dead if Milton hadn't helped her. No way was that bastard gonna let her leave Woodbury alive. So yeah, I got nothing bad to say about him. Besides, you can't help who you got a thing for. Can you, little brother?"

No you couldn't, Daryl silently agreed. It was funny that Merle should say that thing about talking, because that was all he and Beth had done since they rescued her from Woodbury. After her ordeal, he thought she would probably need some time before she wanted to have sex again. Thankfully, those evil bastards hadn't touched her in that way, but she had told him how one of them had asked the governor to let them have her. It had been only a time constraint that had saved her from having to endure that horror. Phillip had also promised to give her to them after he got Michone. The thought of what might have happened to her filled him with rage, and it surely must have left an imprint of terror on her mind.

He felt doubly in debt to James for helping to save Beth's life, and for keeping her out of the clutches of those rapists by killing them. What he had done at great personal risk to himself had ensured that they won the battle. Even though he had done it for his daughter, Daryl felt eternally grateful to him. That was why he had decided to toughen up Jenny and make sure that she could take care of herself. It was his way of repaying her father. James was unsure of this plan, but Carol had helped to convince him.

"Believe me when I tell you that raising her to be strong and self-reliant is the best thing you can do for her."

A sympathetic look of understanding was on his face after Carol said that. She had obviously told him about her abusive husband. They seemed to have become friends already.

So it was that James began teaching his daughter to shoot, and Daryl started taking her along with the rest of the kids to learn to hunt. Having been sheltered so long by her dad, she was thrilled to get out and do something different. It soon became clear to Daryl that Jenny had a crush on Carl. The boy, of course, was completely oblivious to this.

He told Beth this as they walked toward the warden's office. "Give him a couple years. Then he'll be the one chasing after her." She laughed.

It was good to hear her laugh. He was trying to keep his desire for her in check even as he wondered how much longer it would be before he could have her in his bed again. Every time she went to take a shower, he wanted to follow her. He felt like a selfish bastard for even thinking such thoughts. Yet he knew exactly how many days it had been since the last time they had sex—sixteen. Sixteen days of talking, more talking than they had ever done before, and hugs. Daryl wasn't even sure how she would react to a kiss, so he hadn't dared to try it. Emotionally, they had opened up to each other, but there was now a physical wall between them.

It was ironic that Hershel would choose now to have a talk with Daryl about birth control. "I know that you and Beth are fond of each other, and I wanted to make sure that you were being careful." He held up a hand, even though Daryl was silent. "I don't want to know the details. I just—Maggie's pregnant," he blurted.

"Oh," Daryl said. "Beth ain't." That was as far as he would go in confirming that he was "fond" of Beth. He wasn't about to tell her father that he had grabbed every box of condoms he could find.

Daryl didn't say anything about this to Beth as they sat down on the couch for their daily chat, because he didn't want her to think that he was pressuring her. Instead, he asked how the self defense training was going. He had thanked Joshua, because if Beth hadn't taken the gun away from the governor, he might have shot her just for spite. Joshua had also offered to teach Jenny self defense.

"She's picking it up much faster than I am. Pretty soon, she'll be able to beat me up."

His laugh caught in his throat as Beth put her hand on his knee. "You've been very patient about, you know, waiting for me."

He cleared his throat. "I know you been through a lot."

"And you were just as scared as I was," Beth said.

"Ain't been that scared since I was a kid," he admitted.

"I hope you'll tell me about your past sometime." She took a breath. "Right now, though, I don't really want to talk." Beth gazed at him for a moment. "I've missed you."

"I been right here with you."

"You know what I mean." His pulse jumped at her words. Her voice took on a different tone as she slid her hand up his thigh. "You said you were going to find out everything I like. I've found out some things you like, too."

"Yeah?" He was intensely aware that her hand had stopped at the top of his thigh.

"I know that you really like to play games. So, I was wondering if you want to play one with me now."

"Hell yeah," Daryl said as he tried to kiss her.

She pulled away. "I want to see exactly how patient you can be. Here are the rules. I'm allowed to touch you, but you can't touch me. You also have to do what I say."

"Whatever you want, baby." All he could think about was that the wait was over, and they were going to have sex again.

"Okay, take off your clothes."

He stood up and removed his clothes as she sat on the couch and watched him. It was a reverse of what had happened the last time they had sex in this room.

"Hmm, looks like you like this game already," she said with her eyes on his erection. She stood up. "Lay down here on your back." After he was situated on the couch, she stood looking down at him. "You're not going to move out of this position no matter what I do, and remember you're not allowed to touch me. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Daryl said. He was glad she had taken the initiative, because he wouldn't have been sure when it was okay to make a move on her.

She took off her shirt and shorts but left her bra and panties on. "No touching means not with any part of your body, not even your tongue. It means you just hold still and let me touch you."

He wasn't sure where she was going with this, but he again agreed. Daryl suspected that this game was also her way of easing back into sex and testing herself to see if she was ready. Giving up control to her meant that he wouldn't do anything to upset her, and he was glad to let her take the lead this time. She tied her hair up in a rubber band before she leaned over him and ran her tongue over his lip. Instinctively, he began to kiss her, and she pulled back.

"What did I just say?"

Now he understood what she wanted. "Sorry. Won't happen again."

"It better not," she warned. Then she tried again, and he kept his mouth still as she sucked on his lower lip the way she had learned from him. Her mouth moved down to his neck and his chest as she kissed and licked down to his stomach. He ached to touch her, but he forced himself to hold still. She then took off her bra and leaned over him with a wicked glint in her eyes. Her hand grasped her breast as she directed her nipple toward his mouth and ran it over his lip. Daryl moaned at this new torture.

"C'mon, you know you like when I suck on em."

"Rules are rules," she said. Then she licked her fingers and massaged her nipple with them.

"Oh fuck," Daryl said.

"You said you wanted to see me play with myself."

"You been doing that?" he asked.

"I am now. Just for you," she said as she took off her panties.

He was sure she was trying to kill him when she rolled over the chair from behind the desk and sat down in it right next to the couch. Beth then spread her legs over the armrests and began to touch herself, hesitantly at first but then finding the right way to rub herself. She kept her eyes on his face while she pleasured herself.

He groaned, wanting to stroke himself while he watched her, but he kept his hands at his sides the way she had told him to.

"I love the way you look at me," she said. Then she began to moan, and the sound drove him wild. At the last moment, she closed her eyes as she came. Beth opened her eyes to find him still watching her. "Now, where was I?" She stood next to his chest and bent over him to kiss and lick his thighs.

Daryl moaned. "Can't take no more. I gotta touch you."

She looked back over her shoulder at him. "Just giving you what you want. I remembered that you like looking at me from behind."

She liked teasing him, did she? He was already planning how he was going to drive her wild next time. Then he stopped thinking altogether as he felt her tongue licking up and down the length of his shaft. He moaned as she teased him this way for awhile before she took him in her warm mouth and just held him there.

"Beth, please! Can't take no more."

He moaned again as she slid her mouth up and off him. "Well okay, since you asked so nice." She picked up her shorts off the floor and took a condom out of the pocket.

"Where'd you get that from?"

"In your cell. I found your stash," Beth told him.

"The torture's finally over," he said as he sat up.

"You're breaking the rules again!" She handed him the condom. "Put this on and get back in position."

What was she doing now? Daryl did as she asked, and she climbed on top of him.

"Help me," she said as she tried to position herself over him.

Mindful of the rules, he didn't touch her as he guided himself into her while she slid down on him, gasping at the feel. Then he had to hold himself back from grabbing her hips and thrusting into her as she slowly found her rhythm. Her moans joined his as he watched her ride him in another fantasy come true. He gritted his teeth with the effort to keep from coming as he saw her getting closer to another orgasm. Watching her bounce on top of him wasn't making it any easier for him to hold back, but he couldn't take his eyes off her. It was one of the sexiest things he had ever seen.

Daryl didn't make it, but she followed him immediately after his long-delayed release. She leaned over him then and whispered. "Kiss me."

Set free from the rules, he half sat up as he kissed her deeply. "I missed you too, Beth. So much."

"Sorry I made you wait again."

He looked straight into her eyes. "You're always worth the wait."

"So are you." She smiled at him before she began to move off of him.

He helped her off the couch and stood up to walk over to the window. He again disposed of the condom by dropping it outside.

"I hope nobody finds those," Beth said.

"Your dad would be happy. He wants us to be careful."

"What?" she squeaked.

"Oh yeah, Maggie's pregnant," Daryl said.

"What! Who told you that?"

"Your dad, right before you brought me here to have your way with me." Daryl gloated at having all the gossip before her for once.

"How could you keep that from me?" Beth demanded as she began to throw her clothes on.

"Forgot. Had other things on my mind." He was also putting on his clothes, but he stopped to give her a suggestive look.

"I can't wait to talk to Maggie!" Beth was as excited as a little kid. "I wonder if it's going to be a boy or a girl."

"Ain't no way to tell until she has the baby, and that's a long ways off."

She waited impatiently for him at the door. "Are you coming?"

"Already did," he couldn't resist teasing her.

She rolled her eyes and stepped out into the hallway. They walked in companionable silence most of the way back. Beth was probably already imagining being an aunt to the new baby. Daryl's thoughts were not so innocent.

He waited until they were almost back at the cell block. "Hey, Beth."

"Hmm?" She roused herself from her daydreams to focus on him.

"I figure it's my turn to come up with a new game for tomorrow. Gonna be thinking about it all night. You gonna be ready to play?"

Her skin became slightly flushed as she met his unyielding stare. "Bring it on."

"Count on it," he said and stole one last kiss from her before she went running off to find Maggie.

Daryl watched her go with a smile on his face. He didn't know what the future would bring, but right now he felt like the luckiest guy on earth. Considering the state of the world, he mused that it might actually be true. Whatever else happened, he was going to do everything in his power to keep the good thing he had found in this life.


End file.
